A Nigerian air force strike targeting jihadist rebels mistakenly hit a market in north-east Nigeria, killing more than 100 people and injuring many others, Amnesty International and local media have reported.
Officials confirmed a misfire had occurred but did not provide further details. Amnesty International said it had confirmed from survivors that at least 100 people were killed in the airstrike on a village in Yobe state, near the border with Borno state, the epicentre of the jihadist insurgency that has ravaged the region for more than a decade.
The Yobe state government said in a statement that a Nigerian military strike had targeted a stronghold of the Boko Haram jihadist group in the area and that “some people … who went to the Jilli weekly market were affected.”
The Nigerian military often conducts air raids to battle armed groups using vast forest enclaves, and has killed at least 500 civilians since 2017, according to an Associated Press tally of reported deaths. Security analysts have pointed to loopholes in intelligence gathering, as well as insufficient coordination between ground troops, air assets and stakeholders.
Isa Sanusi, Amnesty International’s Nigeria director, said: “We are in touch with people that are there; we spoke with the hospital. We spoke with the person in charge of casualties and we spoke with the victims.” The Nigerian air force did not immediately respond to inquiries.
